FOXBOROUGH, Mass.—For the opening minutes at least it looked like rookie Andrew Luck and the Colts would be able to hang with future Hall of Famer Tom Brady and the Patriots, holding a 14-7 lead after the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. But the Patriots piled on from there, racking up a huge day in all aspects of the game in an eventual 59-24 win. Here’s what we learned:

1. The Colts just aren't ready

Both teams came into Week 11 with 6-3 records, but there was a sense the Patriots were a contender and the Colts were playing a little above their level.

Indianapolis has been one of the great stories of the season, bouncing back from last year’s 2-14 debacle behind Luck and succeeding without their coach, Chuck Pagano, who's courageously battling leukemia.

Bruce Arians is doing an admirable interim job, but this is a team with 43 new players on the active roster and practice squad, and as we approach the stretch drive of the season, the Colts' inexperience was bound to show up. They were banged-up in the secondary against the Patriots, but even healthy the Colts probably would not have had much of a chance against New England’s offense.

Indy has a comeback win over Green Bay in Week 5 as its signature game of the season, and there are winnable games in the coming weeks (Buffalo, Tennessee, at Kansas City).

There is much to be excited about in Indianapolis, but the blowout loss to the Patriots, plus two remaining games against Houston, will probably provide an accurate barometer of how far this team needs to go.

2. Patriots overcome shortcomings being opportunistic

It could be argued the Patriots and Colts are similar on defense. Both have been below average in yardage allowed (the Patriots entered Week 11 ranked 23rd in the league, and the Colts ranked 17th). Each team had each allowed 201 points (12th in the NFL).

What the Patriots have had going for them this year, though, is their ability to create turnovers with 10 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries entering Sunday's game. The Colts, meanwhile, had just two fumble recoveries and four interceptions.

Those trends stayed true Sunday with the Patriots forcing four turnovers, while the Colts didn't force any.

Indianapolis’ turnovers were especially costly. Patriots cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Alfonzo Dennard each returned interceptions for touchdowns, while Rob Ninkovich recovered a Luck fumble in the third quarter to set up a 24-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski.

3. Julian Edelman is back

To start the season, the Patriots appeared to be going out of their way to minimize star receiver Wes Welker, who is playing this season under the franchise tag and could be gone next year in favor of Edelman, his presumed replacement.

The Patriots went so far as to start Edelman ahead of Welker in their home opener against Arizona. But Edelman hurt his hand in Week 3. With Aaron Hernandez also dealing with injuries, Welker again took over as Brady’s favored target, coming into the game with 66 catches, third in the league.

When Edelman returned in Week 7, he had a hard time getting on the field and had just three catches for 15 yards in three subsequent games. Edelman’s fingerprints were all over the win over the Colts, though. He had a game-changing, 68-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the second quarter, tying the game at 14 and bailing out a Patriots offense that had begun to sputter.

Edelman was a factor in the offense with five catches for 58 yards. He scored the Patriots’ fourth touchdown of the game nearly four minutes into the second half, and set up another touchdown with a 47-yard rush. Including punt returns, Edelman accounted for 222 yards.